With the Atlantic 10 being nothing but chaos, it was an opportunity for either George Washington or Duquesne Basketball to be near the top of the standings on Wednesday night. It was a close game until the Dukes went on a big run to take a first-half lead.
After leading by as much as 12 points, the Revs came back to trailing just one with five minutes to go. To the Dukes' credit, they were able to hold on with some defensive stops, winning 73-65 to move to 3-1 in league play. Here are some takeaways from the win.
1. Maximus Edwards’ big moment
It’s been a rough season to this point for Edwards, who went from starting to getting limited minutes off the bench. But he’s played well in the past week and had his best performance yet against his old team, scoring 22 points on 8/10 shooting, including getting four steals. He was the only double-digit scorer for the Dukes for 39 minutes and was the main reason Duquesne won.
2. David Dixon’s game-saving block towards the end
The guy who kept GW in the game was big man Rafael Castro, who produced 27 points and 13 rebounds. He torched the Dukes’ interior, but they kept fighting, including David Dixon, who tied a career-high five blocks. None was more important than the one he got on a fastbreak attempt by GW to cut it to one with over a minute to go. It was originally called a goaltend, but it was reversed, and the Dukes got a stop afterward to win eventually. Dixon, who has eight blocks in the last two games, is making a case for all-defense in the A-10.
3. 3-point defense and more FTs
Speaking of defense, it was another strong effort on that end for Duquesne. GW came into the game averaging 30 three-pointer attempts from the game in league play but was held to 5/18 from deep in the loss. And while they turned it over 17 times, the Dukes also forced 14 themselves, scoring 21 points off of it.
By the way, it was another strong game at the FT line, making 13/16 on the night. It was better than GW’s 16/26 performance, another key aspect in getting the team’s first road win of the year.